12.05.2013

How the Media Failed Women in 2013/Speed the Collapse

This seems like a pretty sure way to drain my male audience (check out the last paragraph for The Mask You Live In), but Miss Representation came out with their latest video 'How the Media Failed Women in 2013' and, while it's disheartening, it should be seen. There were some high points in 2013 but, for the most part, women are still viewed in an awful light and it's sad.

I've never embraced 'the f word'; my oldest sister was always the feminist of the family so I just assumed that being a feminist meant that you were a vegetarian, not a fan of bras, and you didn't really care about shaving on a regular basis but, the older I got or, more accurately, the more knowledge I gained from mostly unbiased news and media outlets (everyone is biased in some way), versus simply accepting what was presented during classroom instruction, the more I realized that I probably align with a lot of feminist ideals. I'll never be on Simone de Beauvoir's level and burning bras is a ridiculous idea (it costs $80 for two bras; I'm not wasting that shit) but some things really need to change.

First off, women have got to stop putting down other women. Don't make fun of her; she's your closest ally. Besides, the nicer you are, the better you feel about yourself, so stop being mean and don't think you're better than someone else; you have no idea what they have been through.

The Lilly Ledbetter Act was signed into law, but women still make less money than men. My mother is the head of her division at the company, but she still makes less than her male colleagues (the company does this by slightly changing the job description; they do the exact same job in their separate divisions, they have the same work ethic and round the clock hours, but their titles differ by one word).

Rape is still considered a woman's fault by a disgustingly large amount of the population. In court, it is so much more difficult to prove that you are a victim of assault (upon your own body, something you should be able to control), than to just give up and let him get away; that's horrific.

Teenage girls are more worried about getting a thigh gap than being healthy. Be active and happy, not thin and sickly. Work out, eat a fairly regular diet, but know that having a thigh gap is, in large, a biological predetermination; if you weren't born with that bone structure, you're not going to have that gap. Get over it, calm down, stop trying to look like other girls, and eat a cookie without feeling guilty, because there are people who love you unconditionally.

To every girl that has ever had a guy, or even (disgustingly) a girl, make them feel like they are not worth anything, you are so much more intelligent and beautiful than social media or peers have led you to think. You're amazing and you are more than enough.

This video is enough to make you hate men; don't do that. I swear that's not what I'm trying to do here, I just want you to realize what is still going on in our supposedly forward thinking country. Women are just as awful to one another, if not more cruel at times, and there are a lot of guys who are educated and were not raised to be jackasses.

This does have to do with music: the song chosen for the background is amazing. Metric's "Speed the Collapse" provides the backdrop for the short film so click on the link to check that out (also make sure to listen to Rachel Maddow starting at the 2:22 mark).

If you're a guy, check out The Mask You Live In, the male counterpart to Miss Representation from The Representation Project; there's this video here and the link will be below.